Experts react to DB pension transfer ruling
By Tom Carnegie, 26 Mar 18
Pension experts have welcomed the clarity the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has established for defined benefit (DB) pension transfers through its updated rules. But they warn further, lengthy, consultation may not be the best way to address issues of poor practice that have come to prominence in recent months.
Justin Corliss, pensions expert at Royal London, said it was clear the FCA has been “scarred” from the British Steel Pension Scheme controversy.
“They have found too many cases where scheme members were given unsuitable advice to feel confident that now is not a time to alter the starting assumption.
“It is quite right to insist that all advice on transfers must be based on a personal recommendation – transfer advice should never be done in bulk but must always be based on the individual circumstances of the member,” Corliss said.
He said worrying however that both the DB white paper and the new FCA consultation paper propose months more of consultation about further changes.
“If there are examples of poor practice in the transfer market, these need to be addressed as a matter of urgency,” he said.
Tags: Aegon | DB pensions | FCA | Fidelity | Old Mutual | Royal London
Christopher Lean says:
Would it not have been a more balanced article if the opinions of firms with pension transfer permissions had been considered as well? The new rules will affect the way in which pension transfer advice is given and the companies quoted are not advisers.